LGBTQ rights? Italy returns 73% of UN recommendations, like Poland and Hungary.
Of nineteen UN recommendations regarding the rights of LGBTQ+ people, Italy has rejected twelve, or 73% . This is an unprecedented case, following the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review, where for the first time in history, 19 countries asked Rome to make progress on queer rights . But the government gave a nearly resounding "no."
Italy's record-low rejection rate follows another record: Italy's UPR cycle concluded in January 2025 with the highest number of recommendations ever received on the topic. Italy's "no" votes concern important and controversial issues: equal marriage, same-sex adoptions, recognition of both same-sex parents, and protection of the rights of children of same-sex couples.
Rainbow Weddings and FamiliesRegarding marriage , the Italian government has declared that civil unions "are largely equivalent to marriage." This response was strongly contested by Yuri Guaiana of the Radical Association Certi Diritti: "It's like saying that second-class families are equivalent to first-class families. We keep millions of citizens in a state of legal inferiority and we even boast about it." On parental recognition , requests from Canada, France, and Finland to recognize both parents in same-sex families were rejected.
"It's a denial of reality," says Alessia Crocini of Famiglie Arcobaleno. "Thousands of children in Italy have two mothers or two fathers, but the government prefers to pretend they don't exist. It's an institutional cruelty that condemns minors to a state of permanent legal uncertainty." Regarding adoptions by same-sex couples, Italy has rejected the recommendations of Portugal and the Netherlands, despite the Constitutional Court itself recently opening the door to international adoptions for singles, including homosexuals .
According to a harsh statement from Arcigay, the most serious rejection concerns Malta's recommendation to protect intersex children from non-consensual surgery . "The government responded by citing guidelines from... 2010, ignoring fifteen years of progress in medicine and human rights," Arcigay writes, quoting Manuela Falzone of IntersexEsiste: "The government prefers to hide behind outdated documents rather than admit that the rights of intersex minors are systematically violated in Italy."
No sex education in schools, no ban on "reparative therapies."Denmark's recommendation on mandatory sex education in schools was also rejected, to which Rome responded by citing school autonomy. Italy also rejected the ban on so-called "reparative therapies." Seven votes in favor remain for recommendations that aren't particularly specific or concrete, such as "combating discrimination," "promoting equality," and "combating hate speech."
The international comparisonComparison with other European countries does not paint a particularly rosy picture for Italy—which has now adopted a position similar to that of Hungary and Poland , "precisely the countries under EU infringement proceedings for violations of the rule of law," Arcigay emphasizes. This confirms the findings of the Rainbow Map , which showed our country below the European average and, above all, worsening when it comes to the development of LGBTQ+ rights.
Luce
